How do I become a Mason

The absolute requirements for becoming a Mason are:

• Be a man, at least 21 years old. (18 in some jurisdictions)
  
  
• Have belief in a Supreme Being (of any faith. No particular religion or faith is required or excluded. All are welcome.)

Also:

• You should be someone who does, or want to learn to, enjoy the company of other men from all different social classes, faiths, backgrounds, races, countries, etc. Masonry is universal in its ideals.
  
  
• If you are a family man, Masonry considers that your family obligations come FIRST, so you must be sure that:
  
  
  • You have the time to participate (usually two or three evenings/month at first for meetings and instruction, and then at least one evening per month for meetings from then on -- often more if you get involved in lodge activities.)
    
    
  • you can afford the initiation fees and the annual dues without hardship to yourself or your family.
    
    
• You should be coming to Masonry "of your own free will and accord", to learn to improve yourself and to enjoy the company of other good people, not because someone keeps pestering you to join or because you think it will help you "get ahead" in business.
  
  
• To join, all you have to do ask a Mason and fill out a Petition for Freemasonry Degrees:
  
  • Preferably someone you know or at least who lives or works nearby, or...
    
    
  • If you think that you don't know any Masons in your area, you could post to the Netnews group alt.freemasonry and ask that anyone who lives in your general area reply to you, or...
    
    
  • You can probably find nearby lodges listed in your phonebook. (White-pages listings for lodges may be under "Masons", "Freemasons", or "Masonic Temple", and the Grand Lodge would probably be under "Grand Lodge of Masons"), or...
    
    
  • Find your state's Grand Lodge in this list of Grand Lodges. Call or e:mail them and ask to speak to someone in the office of the Grand Secretary.
    
    
  • The person will give you a petition to fill out.
    
    
  • Answer all of the questions and then return it to the person or go to the Lodge and give it to a member or the Secretary.

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  Once a petition is submitted, the following things happen, in the following order:

  The petition is read, for the benefit of the membership, at the next regular Stated Communication ("Business Meeting"), and the Master of the Lodge will appoint an investigating committee (usually several senior members of the Lodge), who will contact you and find a mutually-convenient time to meet with you, to talk to you, and to determine if you meet the prerequisites for membership (which are generally that you are an honest and upright man, who conducts his affairs with dignity, and treats all mankind fairly and decently) ... they will then report their findings to the Master. (Since it is not practical that you meet each person who will be balloting on your petition, the "committee" interviews you and reports their findings, through the Master, to the entire Lodge.)

  The petition will be read at the next Stated Communication, and it will be voted on by the membership present. If you are accepted as a member, you will be contacted by the Secretary, and instructed as to when and where to report for your "First Degree" - that of "Entered Apprentice" - at which time the Lodge, in full ceremony, will confer the ancient rites and rituals of that Degree.

  After the Degree, there will be some study on your part, to commit parts of what happened to you and with you that night to memory and recite it before the Lodge, or in front of an examining committee of some sort ... and then on to the Second Degree (that of "Fellowcraft") and then on to the Sublime Degree of a Master Mason.

  In the state of Texas you may attend all Stated Meetings and Lodge functions after you have been initiated as an Entered Apprentice.

Thought for the day